ACCIDENT MARS END OF GAMES.Byline: Dan Lazar Special to the Daily News The ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Winter X Games X Games Sports medicine The official Olympics of 'extreme sports' sponsored by ESPN, held annually during the summer. See Extreme sports. concluded on a tragic note Sunday when one of its athletes suffered a fractured back while competing in the modified-shovel racing finals. Los Angeles-native John Strader was traveling close to 70 mph when he lost control of his sled-like vehicle and spun six times in the air, suffering a small compression of the thoracic thoracic /tho·rac·ic/ (thah-ras´ik) pectoral; pertaining to the thorax (chest). tho·rac·ic adj. Of, relating to, or situated in or near the thorax. spine, bruising bruising discoloration and actual hemorrhage at the site of injury, and a serious disadvantage in the meat trade. In the first 12 hours after injury the bruise is bright red, at 24 hours it is dark red, at 24 to 36 hours it loses its firm consistency and becomes watery and at 3 or his leg and loosening his teeth. Strader, now a resident of Taos, N.M., is listed in stable condition and is expected to fully recover after a six- to eight-week convalescence convalescence /con·va·les·cence/ (kon?vah-les´ins) the stage of recovery from an illness, operation, or injury. con·va·les·cence n. 1. , doctors said. ``He was OK, talking, giving us the thumbs-up,'' said Strader crew member and roommate Lauren Pavlov, who rushed to the site of the crash at Snow Summit ski resort at Big Bear Lake. ``He said that his back was really hurting.'' With Strader's crash following three such mishaps on Saturday and one on Sunday, several modified-shovel racers and team members speculated that the crafts might not have been properly adjusted for Snow Summit's man-made snow. The racers normally compete at New Mexico's Angel Fire ski resort, known for its natural powder snow. ``We really didn't change anything,'' said Pavlov. ``We only added a little more weight (to the vehicle).'' Pavlov and other shovel racers also said that the Winter X Games' course is shorter, narrower and equipped with smaller retaining walls than the sport's home course at Angel Fire. ``I've seen more crashes this weekend than I've seen in four years,'' said modified-shovel racer racer, name for several related swift, slender snakes, especially those of the genus Coluber. All of the racers are nonpoisonous, nonconstricting, day-active snakes. The black racer, C. Rob Villalobos, a regular participant in the Angel Fire World Championships. ``This (man-made snow) is frozen droplets, not snowflakes snowflakes small patches of gray or white hair acquired after birth. Skin color is unchanged. See also achromotrichia, vitiligo. . You're on a whole series of ball-bearings.'' Ron Semiao, director of programming for ESPN2, said that the cable sports network took all the necessary precautions in staging the modified-shovel racing event. ``We had several site visits with organizers and staff,'' he said. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Modified-shovel racer John Strader waves to fans after crashing in the during the finals of the Winter X Games event at Snow Summit. Myung J. Chun / Daily News |
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